Death by Fame: What happened to Victoria? Details of the 1990 Huntington Beach assault explored

The horrific rape of the Huntington Beach resident, Victoria, on Christmas Eve of 1990 had turned into a cold case until a match to one of the DNA samples from the crime scene came in 18 years later. The tragic incident led investigators to the South Korean-born American actor and mixed martial arts artist Joseph Son and his accomplice, Santiago Gaitan.

Trigger Warning: This article contains explicit mention and description of rape and sexual assault. Readers' discretion is advised.

Victoria had been abducted from the parking lot of her apartment building and repeatedly r*ped, sodomized, and tortured at gunpoint by Son and Gaitan before they set her free with only her pants covering her eyes.

The Death by Fame episode, Evil Villain, airs March 4, 2024, at 9 pm EST on Investigation Discovery and re-examines the horrific crime committed by the Austin Powers actor Joe Son.

The synopsis of the episode reads,

"Joseph Son had the right look to play Hollywood villains, but a terrible secret from his past resurfaces more than a decade later; when prosecutors face off with the actor on the stand, it's hard to tell fact from fiction."

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Who was Victoria, and what happened to her?

Victoria, the 19-year-old from Huntington Beach, California, was on her way home around December 24, 1990, at about 12.30 am, with her dog, Shassy, wrapped inside her jacket. She had stepped out with a few friends to watch the Christmas lights on the night of December 23, 1990, per CBS News.

Joseph Son (Image via X/@discount_jersey)

However, as she approached the parking lot of her apartment, two men appeared out of the shadows. While one asked for directions to the beach, the other jumped onto her, and she was assaulted by both men at the same time. One of the men gouged her eyes and pistol-whipped her in the head. Victoria had managed to set Shassy free during the struggle, but she was pushed into their car at gunpoint.

The two men, later identified to be Joseph Son and Santiago Gaitan, drove around asking her for directions to the cliffs. They simultaneously threatened her, saying,

"I'm gonna kill you so bad, I'm gonna throw you off the cliffs, I'm gonna mutilate you and throw you ... down the cliffs."

Son and Gaitan stopped the car in front of a house and r*ped her multiple times at gunpoint, threatening her to splatter her brains all over the car. Victoria was sodomized, tortured, and forced to orally copulate with the attackers, per an Orange County District Attorney Press Release. Furthermore, she was branded with the SOS (Sons of Samoa) initials on the rear end.

Victoria reportedly used the picture of her friend's newborn baby in her wallet to convince her kidnappers to let her go to see her son. She further explained that they had poked her eyeballs out with contacts in them, making them unrecognizable to her, per CBS News.

She was then dropped off naked and blindfolded with her pants, where she ran to a nearby home and called 911. She went to the scene where the abduction took place with the officers and found Shassy and her purse while the detectives collected evidence.

The detectives took two clean samples of DNA from Victoria's clothes and body. They also had composite sketches of the perpetrators, which were widely telecast on media. However, the case turned cold for 18 years till a match was found to one of the DNA samples, leading to the professional wrestler and actor Joseph Son in October 2008.

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Where is Victoria now?

Joseph had already been in custody for violating his probation when Victoria recognized him from the photo lineup provided to her. An anonymous tip from a mailer led the detectives to the accomplice - one of Son's friends from high school, Santiago Gaitan.

The victim, who had relocated away from California and had settled with her family, flew down to California and testified against the perpetrators. Joseph Son was sentenced to 7 years to life, while Gaitan was handed 17 years and four months in prison.

As per CBS News, Victoria refused to testify at Joseph Son's second trial for murdering his cellmate at Wasco State Prison. She was diagnosed with advanced stage of breast cancer in early 2014 and underwent months of treatment. She, however, lives cancer-free and prosperous now.